Iran’s Foreign Ministry summons Saudi envoy for 4th time

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Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Saudi charge d’affaires and warned him on any sort of delay in identification of missing people and transfer of victim’s bodies.

At a meeting with Saudi charge d’affaires, Ali Chegini reviewed the legal, customary and religious responsibilities of Saudi authorities towards pilgrims and emphasized the need for Saudi Arabia to take responsibility for the disaster in Mina and to identify the victims of the incident and immediate transfer of their bodies as well as helping to find the missing people and to treat the injured.

Chegini further deemed Saudi official’s apology to all Islamic nations for their failure as the reasonable duty of Saudi Arabia.

Pointing to the sensitivity and attention of Iranians towards the victims of the incident, he warned the Saudi official on any action which will postpone the transfer of the deceased to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Chegini further emphasized that Tehran has not issued any permission to Saudi Arabia to bury the bodies of Iranian victims and that all families have called for the transfer of the bodies to their homeland.

Meanwhile, Saudi charge d’affaires said he will transfer Iran’s views to his country’s governmnet as soon as possible.

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Senegal Muslim scholars express condolence to Iranian families

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A number of Senegal Muslim scholars and cultural figures have sent condolence messages over the death of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.

According to the Iranian Cultural Center in Senegal, Sheikh Muhammad Joop, director of Al-Huda Al-Mubin Educational Institute, Sheikh Ali Badr, the Friday prayers leader and imam of mosque in Kaolack region, and Sheikh Sharif Ambalo, director of Al Yasin Institute condoled the tragedy in a phone call with Seyyed Hassan Esmati, Iranian cultural attaché in Senegal.

Expressing their sympathy with the Iranian families of the pilgrims, the scholars asked for the formation of Hajj Committee in the Muslim World and stressed that the Saudi government should provide answers to all Muslims.

Some Senegalese scholars, such as Sheikh Muhammad Nyang have objected to the policy of the Saudi government and said that instead of inviting Senegal to cooperate in Hajj affairs, the Saudi government asks the African country to get involved in the war against Yemeni Muslims.

He added that this is while 10000 Senegalese Muslims participated in the Hajj rituals this year and five pilgrims of the country were martyred in the Mina incident and more than 60 others are still missing.

The Saudi government on Tuesday confirmed the death toll in the Mina crush has reached 4,173.

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ISIS claims responsibility for killing Italian aid worker in Bangladesh

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ISIS has claimed responsibility for fatally shooting an Italian aid worker in the Bangladesh of Dhaka on Monday.

The group said in a statement that an allied security detachment in Dhaka has killed the Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella after tracking him.

ISIS statement added that Tavella was shot with silenced weapons.

The shooting took place in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone, where the victim was shot three times, police officials said.

“The attackers fled the scene after Tavella fell to the ground. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared him dead,” a police statement added.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government said in a statement that it did not have any proof regarding the ISIS claim.

Dhaka’s security commissioner Ohiduzzaman Mian told reporters: “We are not clear who killed him but we think it was a preplanned murder.”

Tavella, 50, was the project manager of Profitable Opportunities for Food Security (Proofs), a project of the Netherlands-based organisation ICCO Cooperation.

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Photos: Counter-Terrorism Summit in New York

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Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani: Mina catastrophe defamed Al-Saud

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Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani said on Wednesday that Mina catastrophe has defamed Al Saud regime, Wahabism and those claiming to be the custodians of holy shrines in Mecca.

Al Saud regime has not revealed the exact number of casualties to save its face and only tried to lower the figures but the pressure exerted by world nations forced it to admit the deaths of 4,000 Haj pilgrims.

Mina catastrophe brought sorrow and dismay among world Muslims and the worst of all is that the Saudi regime avoids delivering bodies of stamped victims, he said.

All should know the real nature of Al-Saud that claims to be the custodian of holy shrines, he said.

The incident proved the mismanagement and incapability of Saudi officials in handling Haj rituals, said Ayatollah Hamedani.

Over 4,700 pilgrims were killed, injured or announced missing with the number of Iranian casualties standing at 239 and 241 are still missing.

Some 64,000 Iranian pilgrims went to Mecca for this year’s Haj pilgrimage.

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Cartoon: Al-Quds caught in the grip of Zionist regime

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4,700 died in Hajj Stampede; 3,000 bodies still inside 21 trucks

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1848038The head of Iran’s Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, expressed his belief that the number of victims in the Mina stampede incident in Saudi Arabia, which took place on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, reached at least 4,700.

In an interview on Iranian TV yesterday, Ohadi said that 228 Iranian pilgrims died in Mina, adding that “the number of missing Iranians, with no information about their whereabouts, has reached 248, and we are afraid that the death toll could rise even more.”

Ohadi said that at least 3,000 bodies are still inside 21 trucks, and they are waiting to be diagnosed and evacuated.

The Saudi Health Minister Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih had announced on Saturday that the number of deaths which resulted from the Mina stampede has increased to 769 pilgrims, while the number of those injured rose to 934.

Saudi Must Accept Their Responsibility and Apologize for Deadly Hajj Stampede

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226901_469Addressing a group of clerics on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The Muslim world has many questions in this regard and Saudi rulers, instead of shunning (their responsibility) must accept their responsibility in this grave incident by apologizing to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

Referring to the bitter incident in Mina, which turned Eid al-Adha into a mourning occasion for the Muslim Ummah, the Leader added, “One cannot consider himself free from this sorrow (even) for a single moment and this sorrow has been weighing on the hearts of us and all Muslims during these past few days.”

The Leader described Saudi rulers’ effort to dodge their responsibility in this catastrophe as incorrect and an ineffective measure, saying, “The Muslim world has many questions and the death of more than 1,000 people in this incident is no small matter. Therefore, the world of Islam should find a solution for this problem.”

Emphasizing that this incident will not be forgotten and will be seriously followed by Muslim nations, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Instead of projection and incriminating this or that, Saudis must accept their responsibility and apologize to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

On September 24, a fatal human crush broke out in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, as a large crowd of pilgrims were on their way to participate in the symbolic stoning of Satan, a Hajj ritual.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry has put the death toll from the incident at nearly 770. However, Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi has said the disaster killed around 2,000 pilgrims, citing Saudi sources.

At least 144 Iranian pilgrims have so far been confirmed dead in the crush. Ohadi said Saturday that 102 Iranians have also been wounded, while hundreds are still missing.

Iran to Lodge Complaint against Saudi Arabia for Deaths of Pilgrims: Vice-President

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Iran’s Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said on Tuesday that Tehran is going to file a complaint against Saudi Arabia for its shortcomings that led to a tragic crush of pilgrims during the annual Hajj rituals and deaths of Iranians.

Speaking to reporters in a weekly press conference in Tehran, Nobakht announced that Iran will lodge a complaint against Saudi Arabia and follow up with legal actions.

Tehran also pursues mechanisms in the international arena to pursue the case, the vice president added.

He made it clear that Iran will spare no efforts to defend the rights of the Iranian pilgrims, the missing ones and those injured in the disaster.

Asked about Riyadh’s possible decision to bury the dead pilgrims in the Arab country, Nobakht underlined that the Saudis cannot do that without the official procedures or permission from the victims’ families, stressing that Iran has not granted permission to Saudi Arabia to do that.

The deadly crush of pilgrims in Mina, near the Saudi city of Mecca, on Thursday killed thousands during religious rituals, marking the worst ever Hajj disaster.

So far, at least 239 Iranian pilgrims are confirmed to have died in the incident. Some 240 other Iranians are still unaccounted for.

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